The NGS 2012 Conference

The National Genealogical Society (NGS) Conference was last week in Cincinnati. Sort Your Story was not a vendor there, although we hope you saw our puzzle piece magnets on the freebie table! If you picked one up and ordered Sort Your Story, please let us know what you think of it!

Our blog author, Jennifer Holik, was in attendance and her entire collection of books were displayed and being sold at Maia’s Books. Her two newest books, Engaging the Next Generation A Guide for Genealogy Societies and Libraries, and Branching Out: Genealogy Lessons for Adults, were launched. You can read a little about the books here on The In-Depth Genealogist. Jennifer also blogged about it on her Generations blog in part one and part two.

If you have never attended a national-level conference I highly encourage you to do so. NGS will be in Las Vegas next year. The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) conference will be in Birmingham, AL this year and Fort Wayne, IN next year.

When you do attend, here are a few points to make it a better conference.

Pick the lectures you most want to hear and try to attend.

Understand you will be on your feet most of the day, especially if you spend a lot of time in the vendor hall. Wear comfy shoes.

Seek out people you have met online and introduce yourself. Genealogists are human and we all share a common goal of education and sharing information. Most conferences have some sort of blogger meet-up too!

Remember that you may be on your way to a lecture and run into someone and start a conversation which runs a long time making you miss your lecture. That’s ok. The relationships you form at large conferences can have a big impact on your research, education, and career.

Talk to the vendors. Learn about their products and share some stories. You may find your long lost cousin!

Have you attended any national-level conferences? If so, what were your impressions? What take aways do you have to share? What advice would you give?